This is the very first blog from the first China Summer School organized by Bicocca University with the support of Fondazione Cariplo.

giovedì 22 luglio 2010

Wednesday, 21st July 2010

The day began as usually with lessons about “Change and Challenge in contemporary China” and “Policies on Intellectual Propriety Rights”, followed by a very particular meal.

Thanks to Mattia we went in this rural kind of restaurant. We really appreciated the Chinese dishes. We are getting better and better eating with chopsticks. The main problem was the incredibly heat of the place. Under the roof there were more than 40 degrees and the spicy foods of Sichuan didn’t help us. In an hour we have been able to eat as much as in a wedding meal. Bill for person: 10 Rmb (ca 1.20 €)

Stefano will send the bill to his chartered accountant to get tax relief. Few of us after lunch had a little walk in a small forest near the university where we found old houses standing by the Yangtze river , which is in flood so the water assumes a not really inviting brown color.

Even with this incredible heat nobody would jump into the river for a bath!In the afternoon we had other two lessons: the first about the “Chinese Legal and Judicial System”. Unfortunately the professor couldn’t come due to personal reason and he sent a student to read his paper. The second one was about “The Evolution of One Child Policy”. The teacher, a young lady, was really cool and explained the matter in a quite perfect English. She has been able to involve all the student in a interesting debate.Flash back: some of us remembered her during the welcome party singing a real vibrant Chinese song.

Then we had the needed one-hour break, when some of use decided to use the washing machines of the campus. The experiment after some problem with the Chinese scripts on the machine finally succeed.At 6.30 pm we took the bus to go to the see the real old part of Chongqing: the ancient town of Ciqikou.Unfortunately a part of the town is flooded by the Yangtze river. There was a power cut due to the flood but the Chinese people are very much entrepreneurial so most of the shops and restaurants have a independent power generator.The old town is quite interesting even if most of the buildings have been restored, we could find people living in there with an old and really poor way of life.

Before dinner some of us tried some local sweet specialties while some others had some shopping. Walking through the ancient town of Ciqikou we got an idea of an old Chinese town.

Inside the town there is a huge Taoist temple that closes at 5.30 pm so we are planning to visit it on Sunday. After a very long and intense day we had a very relaxing and….hot moment: the dinner in an authentic Sichuan restaurant. In the usual round table we ordered at least ten different dishes for the incredible amount of 32Rmb per head (ca 4€). The main dish was the famous Sichuan soup full of red peppers and small green chilli. Some of us had some serious problems: red faces and tongues on fire and swelling foreheads.We finish the dinner in a really Chinese style with a toast with Jing Pai Baoji, a Chinese liqueur. Before drinking we performed the old Chinese rite of “gan bei” which consists in knocking the glasses on the table and then drink all together the small amount of liqueur at the same time.In this old town of Ciqikou we had a glimpse of Chinese life!

Most of us went out to enjoy Chongqing by night while we are here writing this blog for you.Wan an (good night)!